Would you swap types if you could?

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everydayupsanddowns

everydayupsanddowns

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Just a little hypothetical ponder on my dog walk this morning.

We have had a few members join recently who have been diagnosed as one type, then had their classification swapped, and in some cases subsequently swapped back!

I believe all types of diabetes are equally serious (and equally annoying), but I found myself wondering if I would switch brands given the chance by the DiabetesFairy Godmother.

Discounting the chance of getting T2 into remission (since this isn’t possible for everyone) - just on the basis of the day-to-day experience and management…

Would you swap if you could?

Note: Be kind to each other. This isn’t intended to be a ‘my type is worse than your type’ thread, more an exercise of putting yourself in someone else's shoes and acknowledging their challenges.
 
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I’ll go first… I think in the end, I decided no.

Carb counting and dose juggling are a bind, as are the inexplicable variations you can get when you ‘do everything right’ with T1, but I have huge respect for the self control and will power of our T2s who are able to really effectively manage their BG by food choices alone, or with the modest support of Met.

Plus, I think the whole media misrepresentation of T2 (all their own fault yada yada) would drive me even more nuts if it applied directly. I don’t know how you guys don’t just continuously explode with rage!

And this blame and stigma spills over into some HCP relationships too. Which hopefully will begin to change, but you guys are subject to it in the mean time.
 
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I’ll keep Type 1, thank you! I can keep the lid on it with insulin, even though it does feel like wrestling an octopus at times. A cousin checked recently that I was OK with eating a certain pudding she likes to make, and I assured her I was fine with it. Oh good, she replied, because X (a friend of hers with Type 2) says it takes three days to get his BG back under control afterwards.
It always seems to me that people with Type 2 are between a rock and a hard place with either dietary restrictions, or meds that have unpleasant side effects.
 
Very interesting questions.
I think now I am so used to having Type 1 that it would be weird to let go and learn a brand new set of rules. Plus I like my very varied diet.
However, in the past when I was younger, before I was diagnosed with Type 1, I lived overseas. This was made relatively easy because I had no health care issues and no medical prescriptions. Reading about the cost of insulin in America petrifies me so the chance to have a healthcare condition which could be managed without drugs certainly sounds the more appealing. I think I would be willing to give up cake and bread in return for being able to live overseas without the fear of the eye watering cost of insulin prescriptions. (Yes, I know type 2 is not that simple.)

So, I am going to sit on the fence
- Now, I would rather stick with Type 1
- In my 20s and 30s, I would rather have type 2
 
I think my daughter would probably say that she’d stick with type 1 because she enjoys her food and a lot of it is rather carb heavy! I personally would not like to have either, they both have their own challenges; I understand more about type 1 though because that’s the one I’ve had to deal with. Presumably having a mum and daughter both with type 1 increases my chances of getting one or other type at some point in my life :(
 
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I'm really torn on this as I still sort of see myself as both!

I am Type 1 but follow a low carb way of eating as you all know. I am like @Robin's cousin's friend, in that straying "off piste" with diet can cause me 2-3 days or even longer of BG turbulence trying to get my control back even with insulin, but it is as much dietary control as BG control.

I would want Type 2 so that I could try to put it into remission even if it meant following a low carb way of eating for the rest of my life as I plan to do that anyway. That option has rather predictably (but unfairly in my opinion) been taken off the table by Mike. Unfairly because many Type 2s work just as hard at maintaining remission with diet and exercise as they did when their HbA1c was in the diabetic range. Ultimately they still have diabetes and it will come back if they slack!
So I would be happy managing my diabetes through diet and exercise alone if that was a choice and having more stable BG levels as a result, but I really appreciate having insulin to help me out when levels do go too high..... but would they go that high if I didn't have Type 1?? I see a lot of Type 2s who can eat more carbs than me and still have stable levels. I see some Type 1s who eat way more carbs than me and perhaps have slightly more stable levels. My downfall when I am consistent with my low carb way of eating, seems to be my basal variation, which changes significantly from day to day and I wonder if my body would be able to manage that better itself with Type 2 than I manage it injecting basal insulin.
 
Absent T2D remission ... hmmm. Having to constantly manually simulate a pancreas doesn't sound inviting, but neither does dealing with a bunch of crappy meds and always worrying about what you're eating. Maybe it would really come down to what collection of comorbidities you're likely going to have to deal with in each case.
 
Ignoring remission, I'd stay a type 2.
I can still do what I want to do as a type 2, the risk of hypo's would be an active issue as a type 1 for me, I'm rubbish at planning my personal life.
I know a lot of people that have lived to a ripe old age with minimum intervention, they have made an effort, not ignored type 2 entirely, but not dedicated their life to controlling BG.
So, on balance, I'd be more likely to go without eating, at short notice, followed by exercise, followed by junk food occasionally, and cope better as a type 2 with that I believe.
And from previous posts, I have seen type 1's say they have BG swings and spikes that are outside some type 2 targets, in the high side, so again, I'm not entirely sure why type 1 "cope" better than type 2's with that, but at least I could change that with a lifestyle change.
(And I would put my hand up, I certainly at least helped type visit, even if it allegedly wasn't my fault, but that's history now)
 
I am happy to stick with the T2 label.

I just don't know how all you T1's manage having to calculate and inject for every single meal. T1's do have the freedom to eat as they like it seems as long as they inject for the carb load of the meal and the timing of the injections seems critical too. Me, I prefer to go low carb and avoid the needle thingies. I enjoy analysing the data that I collect which influences what I eat and how I interect with the medics.

I wonder which group feel that they have more control of the beast. T1's with the needles or T2's with restrictive choices in foods.

I don't think eith T1's or T2's have an easy time of it, but it does seem somewhat more difficult for T1's.

I have a lot of respect for all the T1's especially those who seem to cope well and have a sense of humour helping to cope with it.

I have an equal respect for all the T2's who somehow manage to get the beast into remission, but sadly, remission does not seem to be available for all.

I am also glad that I am T2 and it is under control so that I don't get bothered by various medics with various levels of understanding, knowlege and empathy.
 
Hmmm…If they could put my pancreas and spleen back in ( healthy ones) but I was told I still had to be diabetic, I’d chose Type 1, as I can eat more or less what I want but not have to worry about gastric problems and being immnosuppressed.
Can I be Type 0 please? 😉
 
I'm lucky that I spent a lot of my life with no diabetes at all. Diagnosed initially as T2 due to my age, but went straight onto insulin because of the dramatic weight loss and extremely high numbers. When I finally got the tests (after 8 years) and re-diagnosed I can testify that the attitude of the HCPs I saw changed dramatically*, the care I got changed too... it opened many doors for me, including carb-counting education and having a pump. So from that point of view I prefer being T1. I could live without all the other autoimmune conditions that come with it though (psoriasis, alopecia, hypoactive thyroid, to name but 3.) Last time I counted it was up to 5 conditions.

As to eating... I can't really eat as I like, higher carb certainly screws me up, so I tread a line of what you might call "moderate carb", higher than @rebrascora but nowhere near as high as some. Usually around 70 - 80g carb per day, with the odd excursion when eating out or at friends' places. However within that I have very enjoyable meals. Then again, I'm keen on cooking and happy to spend time preparing meals.

*apparently the GP's nurse (who is lovely) rang the local DSN and said what type did she think I was. The DSN diagnosed T2 over the phone due to my age. When I got re-diagnosed and began to be seen by the same DSN she was extremely spiteful towards me as I had challenged her judgement. She said to a student nurse in front of me "I don't believe in those tests, and had Dr X not retired she'd never have had them". Fortunately she's long gone.
 
I'd stick with T2, as 3 months in, it's been a bit of an uphill battle coming to terms with it, and I've read and learnt as much as I can about T2 so I can manage it to the best of my ability.
The support of the forum has been invaluable, as I was definitely emotionally slightly wobbly at the start, though I guess that's probably common to other types at diagnosis too.
I beat myself up at first, as I was/am obese (dieting -10ish Kg down), and with a family history of T2, but there was no blamey-ness going on here on the forum, and that helped.
If the diabetes fairy made me T1, I'd have to climb a new, different hill and learn new things, though being able to eat a normal diet again would be good, I'm happy to eat a different diet if it keeps me healthier.
I take my hat off to you all, as @Gwynn says, there's a lot more planning and being organised for T1s (and other non T2s), and I'm not always very organised.
 
I would swap 100% any day. The treatment would be the same since I’m already on MDI but I wouldn’t have my pancreas randomly doing it’s own thing at the same time and I’d have better chances of access to technology.
 
I've only recently been diagnosed as T1 but while I was waiting for my test results I thought about this a lot. I'm leaning more towards T2 because I had gestational diabetes while pregnant and while I was on a small amount of insulin, I didn't find it too overwhelming to restrict my diet. I'll be able to eat less restricted with T1 but I'll always be worried about hypos and I'll feel less able to do any spontaneous stuff because everything needs so much planning now.

Before I found out which type I was, I thought I'd struggle with the T2 stereotypes but I've found that there is very little knowledge around T1 so I'm getting branded with them anyway! I've told several people at work and in my family and everyone keeps comparing me to their older family members with T2, saying their '*insert family member* cut out chocolate and they're fine'. They assume because I'm 28 and a healthy weight that I must be doing something wrong elsewhere and don't believe it's purely autoimmune... I guess that would also be extremely frustrating as a T2 because I know several people with T2 that eat well and still struggle to control their BG.
 
Ah, Mike, you removed a major attraction of Type 2 - remission! When I was younger, I sometimes got really upset about that - that there was a possible ‘cure’ for that Type of diabetes but not mine. It really got to me. It doesn’t so much now I’m older.

Both types are potentially serious, so I think that’s important to bear in mind. I also think there are other angles apart from the ‘what you can eat’ side. I believe Type 2 can also come with other metabolic effects that can increase the risk of health problems. I’m not sure of all the details and stats of that, but it would be a big concern for me.

One thing I do really resent about Type 1 is the amount of time it takes and the amount of brain power. It really is like having another job. Not great when you’ve already got a job and a family to look after. Sometimes I do feel it’s taken over a chunk of my brain that could be used for something else. Some days I get so sick of the constant thinking, counting and planning, and the endless chores - testing, changing my cannula, adjusting my basal, deciding what kind of bolus to have and when. When I’m ill, I find it particularly soul-destroying not to just be able to sleep but to have to test, test, check for ketones, check again, etc etc, all with that constant fear of something going wrong.

Would I swap? If you’re talking solely about the diet side, yes I would. Even though I like my carbs very much, I’d rather stick to a lower amount and not have to lug round half a pharmacy for a week abroad or have to count my cabs accurately and calculate insulin. No more fridge full of insulin, no more needles and cannulas, no more staring intently at food in restaurants to calculate my bolus while others tuck in enthusiastically and chat away, no more not making new recipes because I can’t be arsed to work out the carbs, no more stress before dinner when I realise I’ve forgotten my bolus in all the chaos. No more head taken over by the constant bloody calculations!

If you’re talking about associated conditions of Type 2 and related complications, then no I wouldn’t. I would worry about those and any increased risk.

So, like @helli I’m on the fence. I’ve thought about this many times over the years and I’d want a few more assurances about the health side of Type 2 before I swapped. Better the devil you know, as Kylie said :D
 
It is a question I've asked myself more than once in the past and I still conclude I'd rather be classic normal ordinary T1 cos T1 is actually less complicated than T2 - which isn't ONE condition whatsoever.

And you know - after 50 years and over 70 - you do get used to doing stuff like carb counting and adjusting doses, however complicated it might seem to someone who has never had to do it. Mad as it sounds, though, I do sometimes forget I have it at all and halfway through a meal will say to OH, d'you think it might have been an idea to test my blood, before I started eating this? Usually when we're deep in conversation about something or another which continues whilst eating - or glued to summat riveting on the box. (though that doesn't tend to happen much these days! LOL)
 
We have had a few members join recently who have been diagnosed as one type, then had their classification swapped, and in some cases subsequently swapped back!

This statement form your original post is probably the most significant for me. This is the hardest type for me, the type in between. Type 2 originally - treated by doctors like a second class citizen, then type 1 treated with overload of information and care, now type in between, the message is we are not quite sure what you are, but keep your sugars in range (which is actually killing me ) we will put you in the box of odd fishes and we may or may not in the future fetch you out again and mess about with you… but don’t hold your breath.

So In answer to the question , I don’t really want either lol
 
wow what a topic

Edited: became a rant lol

Would I swap? Depends on what day you ask me. I totally appreciate the struggles T1 brings and its hard to decide which is the less of 2 evils without experiencing both sides.

Whatever way, love you guys for the support and kindness you have shown. Defo makes this "club no one wants to be in" much easier x
 
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gll said:
wow what a topic

Edited: became a rant lol

Would I swap? Depends on what day you ask me. I totally appreciate the struggles T1 brings and its hard to decide which is the less of 2 evils without experiencing both sides.

Whatever way, love you guys for the support and kindness you have shown. Defo makes this "club no one wants to be in" much easier x
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Just so you know, I read your original post and it was brilliant. Even if you did delete it, it’s good therapy to get it down on paper
 
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